John Blichmann joins me this week to discuss the business aspects of starting a small craft brewery.
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[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-199-Going-Pro.mp3]Topics in This Week’s Episode (1:00:00)
- This week I welcome John Blichmann, the President of Blichmann Engineering, producers of both home brewing and pro brewing equipment. John has helped hundreds of brewers start small breweries.
- John shares a few words about some of the new activities at Blichmann Engineering.
- We quickly get into the subject of pro brewing including the fundamental decision of whether the business would primarily sell from a tap room (at high margin) or via wholesalers/retailers.
- We discuss the importance of picking a location.
- John shares some of the complexities of running a tap room including setup, employees, atmosphere, and finally food.
- We talk about some of the realities of complying with tax laws, payroll, accounting, and licenses.
- John tells us why you need to build plenty of margin into your business plan for unexpected rennovations and costs.
- We discuss equipment and how to size a brewery depending on your business model and location.
- John talks briefly about financing your new business.
- We discuss picking a lineup of beers to sell and the importance of brewing what your customers like as well as what you enjoy.
- John explains some strategies for managing growth, and shares his closing thoughts.
Sponsors
- Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!
- And also Anvil Brewing Equipment. Anvil is a new line of kettles, burners and accessories from John Blichmann at Blichmann Engineering. They make top quality brewing equipment built to last a lifetime.
- Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Mobile software and the new DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.
Thanks to John Blichmann for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!
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